What was your first job as a journalist?
Staff writer for The Chronicle of Higher Education
Have you ever used a typewriter?
Yes! Up through my first year of college.
How is social media changing news?
In multiple and contradictory ways.
Who's your favorite fictional journalist?
Harriet Dunkley on Secret City
What does it mean to be a journalist?
It can mean risking one's life.
How do you prefer to be pitched on stories?
Thoughtfully and originally
What tools and software do you use to do your job?
Microsoft Teams, Google Drive, Zoom, laptop, printer, pen
What's your favorite social network?
None.
Who do you wish followed you?
Roger Federer
Why did you become a journalist?
I wanted to write about things that were largely ignored in the media, at least in the US.
Did you work for your high school newspaper? If so, what did you do there?
No. I wasn't interested in journalism until later on.
What story are you most proud of writing or working on?
What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
Don't give up.
When's the best time to pitch you?
Monday through Friday
What's the best pitch you ever got?
Ariel Dorfman's essay "Narrative Dignity, Hidden Memories: A Meditation on Reconciliation, From Chile to South Africa and Beyond"
What's the worst pitch you ever got?
Someone who wanted me to write a profile of him.
What's your favorite drink?
Coffee
When you're not at a computer, where are you most likely to be?
On a tennis court
Aside from your own, what's your favorite publication to read?
The New Yorker
What's the most common misperception about your beat?
No one cares about ideas.
